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Amissopian Federation

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The Amissopian Federation, also referred to as the Federation of Amissopia, the Federated States of Amissopia, or simply as Amissopia, is a self-proclaimed federal republic composed of eleven states and one federal district. At less than one metre square, the nation is smaller than the smallest macronationally recognised state, the Vatican City. The capital is Madison District, and the largest city excluding the district is Meduliana, the state capital of Zenith. Eight states and the federal district are naturally contiguous on the Amissopian mainland; later colonisation of the Beachhead Atoll off the western coast of the mainland created three new states that are only accessible via a bridge from the mainland to the island. The geography and topography is fairly uniform across the board, the territory of the entire nation made of cardboard, with the exception of the area on the southernmost point of the mainland around Lake Venom in the Badlands, which citizens and visitors are barred from entering on grounds of apparent toxicity. The nation is landlocked by the United Kingdom on all sides.

Amissopia is an economically undeveloped nation, with no industry or economy to speak of. Consequently, it mathematically has the world's lowest level of military and welfare spending - indeed, the Amissopian government is totally fiscally neutral, having historically taken in no tax revenues nor performed any form of government spending.

A single government official, the President, wields all legislative and executive power under the Charter, the constituting document of the nation. The current President is Horatio Eden, who took office following a nominal election upon the Charter's ratification on the 2nd of July, 2018. Judicial power is vested in the High Court of the Federation, currently unstaffed. There is also a ceremonial Emperor, the incumbent of which is reappointed by the President daily under the terms of the federal Imperial Law.

The Amissopian Federation, as of the 12th of August, 2018, is a full member of the Grand Unified Micronational.[2] It acquired provisional membership on the 22nd of July, 2018.[3][4]

Contents

Etymology

"Amissopia" comes from the root Latin word "amissio" meaning loss, and the suffix -topia, rooted in the Greek word tópos meaning "place" or "region". This etymology is represented in the flag, the central symbol of which evokes the infamous[5] memetic Loss comic.

Geography

The land area of the entire Amissopian Federation comes to under fifteen metres square, with the eight contiguous states on the Amissopian Federation making up over two-thirds of that size. Beachhead Atoll, separated from the mainland by UK land and only accessible by a land bridge in the state of the Badlands, measures less than five metres square. Measured by only land area, the Amissopian Federation is smaller than all recognised macronations.

Amissopian land is of a uniform geography and topography, composed entirely of cardboard. The surface of the ground is thin, and covered in perforations, some of which were used as the baseline for the construction of the main highway, the Capital Line, which joins the various state capitals of the nation together along one road network. The cardboard along the northern border in New New Jersey, East New New Jersey and Brandburg is arched upwards, and forms the Great Wall of Amissopia, the tallest section of the Federation's land border with the United Kingdom which runs to a height of around ten centimetres at its peak. Smaller walls exist along the perimeter of the state of East Amissopia and the southern border of the state of Zenith.

The climate of Amissopia is entirely artificial, as the nation is housed entirely indoors. Agriculture, rain and other weather is entirely non-existent, and temperature remains solid.

Government and politics

The Amissopian Federation is a presidentialdictatorship. The President is joint head of state and head of government, and under the Charter of the Federation, the constituting document of the nation and the national government, the office wields absolute legislative and executive federal authority. The President is able to appoint a Presidential Advisory Council with the power to pass legislation, but no bill it considers can become law without presidential approval. The Presidential Advisory Council does not have the power to overturn presidential vetoes unlike its counterpart in the Americansystem. The President is elected to serve a life tenure. There is currently no provision for removing a President from office prematurely, meaning a presidential term ends only when the President dies or they elect to resign the office, making the position more akin to an elective monarchy than a democratic president.

Citizens of Amissopia are subject to three levels of government: federal (in practice, the President and the Ministers to whom presidential authority is delegated), state and city/township government. There are twelve states in the Federation, eleven cities and eight townships in the Federation; the cities and townships are run by Lord Mayors or Mayors who govern unilaterally, while no state except the Universal Triumvirate has as yet formed its own government. The Ministry of Local Government has the power to create towns and cities anywhere in the Federation under the provisions of the Territorial Establishment Law.

The national government is composed of two branches:

Executive/legislative: The President possesses absolute power over legislation and execution of that legislation. In practice, the President's executive power is delegated to various ministries of the federal government, which act on the President's behalf through statutory instruments. The President's absolute legislative and executive authority and few constitutional limits make the position more akin to an elected monarch or dictator than a democratic president.

Judicial: The High Court of the Federation is the final court of appeal and only court in the land, and hears all cases at criminal and civil law. Its membership is appointed by the President for a life tenure, and members may only be removed by an independent Review Board appointed by the President. It is the only body able to exercise judicial review, and is empowered to overturn presidential decrees on grounds of unconstitutionality.

The Presidential Advisory Council is the only semblance of a legislative assembly in the Amissopian Federation. Currently, it consists of one member - Nicolas Millan - who serves as something vaguely akin to an Amissopian Prime Minister, though no such position formally exists.

The position of Amissopian Emperor, per the Imperial Law, also exists; however, the position holds no power and the incumbent is reappointed daily by the President of the Federation. The lack of a presidential directive designating an Emperor means the position is currently in an interregnum period, starting on the 22nd of July, 2018.

Political subdivsions

The Amissopian Federation is a federation of eleven states and one federal district, split across two islands. These states and the federal district, which serves as the national capital, are the primary administrative divisions of the nation. Unlike in traditional federal systems, these states and the district are not represented in the federal government; rather, the populations of the states vote as one bloc for President at the end of every presidential tenure.

There is no provision for citizenship being granted at birth in the Federation.

Badlands/Galapagos controversy

The state boundary between the state of the Badlands and the Galapagos Province on Beachhead Atoll was never drawn, meaning it is presently unclear whether the bridge between the island and the mainland belongs to the Badlands or the Province.